Castles are among the most mysterious buildings on earth. Their grimly silent stones are signposts to a past filled with high adventure, grim tragedies, and glorious victories. Ghosts, hauntings, and other paranormal phenomena are frequently reported from castles. Do strange paranormal powers lurk among their ancient ruins? The World’s Most Mysterious Castles takes you on a journey through hidden chambers and subterranean tunnels of castles all over the world. Their walls served the sinister needs of spies, traitors, and assassins. Do the spirits of attackers and defenders who died in long-forgotten sieges still linger where they fell? Screams of unbearable pain and despair were muffled within their deepest, darkest torture dungeons. Do they echo there still?
Medieval castles were not just showcases for the royal and powerful, they were also the centerpieces of many people's daily lives. A travel guide as well as a historical text, this volume looks at castles not just as ruined buildings, but as part of the cultural and scenic landscape. The 88 photographs illustrate the different architectural concepts and castle features discussed in the text. The book includes glossaries of terminology, an appendix listing all the castles mentioned and their locations, notes, bibliography and index.
Forty-three castles and fortified sites here described were founded or given their most significant fabric after 1217. They include tower-houses, strong houses, possible castles, and twenty masonry castles ranging from the great Clare works at Caerphilly and Morlais to the small modestly fortified sites at Barry and Weobley, and the exceptional fortified priory at Ewenny. The density and variety of the medieval fortifications in Glamorgan are unrivalled, and their study is enriched by an exceptional range of works on the history and records of a historic county formed by merging the lordships of Glamorgan and Gower. Part la described the early castles and traced their role in the Norman conquest and settlement of the fertile southern lowlands down to 1217, when the Clares inherited Glamorgan. In that year the Welsh had expelled the English from Gower and remained unconquered in the Glamorgan uplands. Gower was soon lost again, and under two redoubtable Clare lords the Glamorgan uplands were appropriated in the mid-13th century and secured in a notable programme of castle works. The castle-building of Earl Richard de Clare (1243-62) and his son, Gilbert, the 'Red Earl' (1263-95), as they achieved this 'second conquest of Glamorgan', foreshadowed the later campaigns of Edward I against Gwynedd. At Caerphilly, above all, Earl Gilbert's castle deserves comparison with the great Edwardian works; it introduced defensive features later to be adopted by King Edward's Savoyard master masons. Gower sites considered include the impressive masonry castles at Oystermouth and Penrice. A notable ornately arcaded domestic range at Swansea is the only surviving vestige of the chief castle of Gower, which is tentatively described from a variety of records. AH the illustrated descriptions incorporate detailed historical accounts. The introductory survey outlines the later descent of Glamorgan and Gower to the end of the 15th century, and along with the sectional preambles it provides general discussion of the sites.
This original and pioneering book examines the role of the castle in the Norman conquest of England and in the subsequent administration of the country. The castle is seen primarily as an instrument of peaceful administration which rarely had a garrison and was more often where the sheriff kept his files and employed his secretariat. In most cases the military significance of the castle was minimal, and only a very few ever saw military action. For the first time, the medieval castle in England is seen in a new light which will attract the general reader of history and archaeology as much as the specialist in economic and social history.
